There are two famous devotions to Jesus Christ in the Philippines: The devotion to Sto Nino (the Child Jesus) in Cebu on January 19 and the devotion to Black Nazareno (Passion of Christ) in Quiapo Manila on January 9.
Every year millions of devotees joined long procession during their feast days and they experienced a lot of miracles like; healed from many kinds of sickness, passed board exams, LET exams, got jobs and successful in their business, etc. I believed that millions of devotees have devotion to the Sto Nino or the Black Nazareno because they surely want to experience the greatest favor of God.
In the gospel, the apostles want to know who the greatest favor of Jesus Christ among them is. All of them want to sit the right side of Jesus Christ in heaven so Jesus reminds them by placing a child next to himself to show his disciples who really is the greatest in the kingdom of God. The simple fact of this question reveals that apostles had understood very little the message of Jesus. Therefore He answers their question that the greatest in God’s kingdom is the one who is humble and lowly of heart like a little child. And I think it is intended for us to notice the necessity of conversion is illustrated by childlike humility! Babies are dependent, teachable and innocent, very open about their needs. They like to listen and learn. These are kingdom qualities!
We may think that Jesus and His kingdom is like the ranking of men from greatest to least but actually not like the governments and political administrations of men where power, money and numbers enjoy more influence than character and virtue. The Kingdom of God is about changing our life and serving the Lord, unless we are converted and become as little children, we will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
In order to be in the Lord’s kingdom I have to change! I must give up that competitive drive to be better than others; I must come face to face with my dependence, be open about my spiritual needs, and be willing to listen and learn and be governed by Jesus Christ!
I must be converted: From pride to humility, from worldly ambition to spiritual ambition and from godlessness to godliness.
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